Something has bothered me for a long time, and I think it is time to put it out there and find out others opinions on the matter. It's not anything that is physically wrong with me, or anything like that, but rather what I am starting to think is a belief that only I hold. To get to the root of the issue, we have to go way back.When I was a kid, I went to a very conservative Baptist Church. The people there were people of great faith, but it was a church where you went in, sat down, and stayed quiet. I cannot remember one time when anybody had a shouting fit, and to be honest about it, I cant really remember very many amen's. That just wasn't the way that things were done there. Like I said, there were, and still are people of great faith there, every church is different.
After I came home from college I felt like this church was not the church for me, and through the years I have been a member of several different churches. Some were like that one, others were more, for lack of a better word, free. The church I attend now sits in the middle, it is not Pentecostal, but there are times when shouting happens, and amen's are bountiful. Some people in the church say it is a Bapti-costal church. Sounds good to me.
Anyway, now that I have rambled for a while, I guess I could go ahead and get to the point. My issue is, when people sing in church, I, me, myself personally, feel uncomfortable clapping when they finish. I'm not talking about clapping along with the song, but after they finish. To me if I do that, and this is just my belief, I am applauding the performance. Singing in church should not be about the performance, but about the message. I am alone in the wilderness on this issue.
You see, I honestly do not remember people in church clapping like that when I was young. Maybe they did, and my memory has just gone haywire, but to me it has always felt uncomfortable. If I go to a concert like I did recently, I have no such hesitation applauding, because I understand in that situation it is part performance. Church is a different thing to me. Even when groups come to the church to sing, I feel uncomfortable applauding.
Maybe this is just some strange hang-up with me. I really don't know.
Yep, when I was growing up, we never clapped, although some folks (usually the "elders") would say "Amen" after someone sang. Clapping would have been seen as a glorification of the singer, an intrusion of "popularity" into the sanctity of the Church. And don't get me started on all the folks who feel the need to sing solos in front of the whole church. Seems a bit self-promoting to me, but maybe I'm just too conservative and it's just a way of testifying through song for them. I seem to recall from Sunday School that Jesus himself advised to pray and worship quietly in your own closet, not loudly out in the streets.
ReplyDeleteI too grew up in a very conservative traditional church. There was no clapping and very few amens. You sat there and didn't make a sound or you were in trouble once you got home.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever experienced applause after a song in church I felt the same way you do. "This isn't a preformance. You aren't supposed to glorify the singer." I have since come to view it in a different light mainly after attending a Ray Boltz concert when he would say "give God the glory" at the end of a song. Not to say that applauding is right or wrong, but it can be seen in different lights. Are you applauding the wonderful job the singer did or are you praising God that he blessed them with such talent? Like most things, it is all about where your heart and intent lies.